"The Simpsons" outs another character

On last night's Simpsons Homer Simpson started another business, "Sweet Conclusions", where he offered to handle relationship breakups for other people. It gave the show an opportunity to bring back Homer's gay ex-roommates, Grady (played by Scott Thompson) and Julio, and to out a popular character. It also gave the show a chance to clear up another character's sexual orientation (or just raise more confusion).

Find out which Springfield resident was outed after the break!

When Grady calls Homer to book his breakup services, he mentions that he's dating someone new just as Duff Man steps out of the shower and playfully snaps his towel at Grady. Considering how Duff Man parodies the way beer marketing is often drenched in machismo, seeing him in a relationship with Grady strikes me as very subversive.

Until now, most of Springfield's gays have lived up to various gay stereotypes. I don't have a problem with that since there's a lot more to the characters but it's great to see The Simpsons add a gay who brings some diversity in the mix. That struck me even more in the club scene where Homer breaks the news to Julio: while you can find some stereotypical images in there, that's not all you see among the clubgoers.

The episode also outed Homer's co-worker Lenny as straight. There's been a lot of speculation about Lenny and Carl's close relationship (is it a bromance or a romance?) and last night we learned that Lenny had a girlfriend, Doreen. Then again, Lenny breaks up with Doreen as soon as we meet her, so who knows ... maybe he was freeing himself up for Carl?

I've done my share of complaining about The Simpsons over the years, but the past couple seasons have been really strong, and the subtleties of outing Duff Man is a good reminder of the show's overall quality. What did you think?